By Jason Corcoran in Moscow
State development agency VEB is in talks with the Finance Ministry over flipping its estimated $7.8bn porfolio of stakes in Russian blue-chips back onto the stock market.
Vedomosti today quoted a source close to VEB as saying that it would be rational for the agency to gradually sell shares in small portions next year so to minimise the potential harm to the markets.
Analysts at UralSib estimate that VEB’s stock investments currently total $7.8 bln. Its largest stakes are in Gazprom ($3 bln), LUKOIL ($1.5 bln), and Sberbank ($1.8 bln).
VEB would bank a profit of about 60% on behalf of the National Welfare Fund if it was to sell those stakes today.
Chris Weafer, a strategist at UralSib, said in a note today that a state sell-off may limit the Russian stock market’s upside and add beta in a correction.
He said: “VEB is also interested in maximizing its realized gain, and, as global liquidity is currently ample, we may see light selling pressure on the blue chips in which VEB currently has stakes.”
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